Tuesday, September 28, 2010

How YOU Title

You start our basic: Untitled, Sucky First Draft, {insert character name} Story

Then you write the damn thing (okay maybe half of it).

Realizing something better has come along, something worth changing it to: best book ever, the title that's going to stick, Less Sucky first draft

Writing more (if not the whole thing) you realize the title still isn't working so re-name again, this time taking it seriously, possibly a little too seriously, coming up with what you think is the title that will stick, the epic finale: The Grand Finale, {Insert Authors name} Best Novel Ever, NY Times says its the best EVER.

Then you submit your work (okay so obviously this is WAY in the future... you still need to revise, but you think that the title ALONE will BLOW these agents away)

Until...

You get it back and they say you titled your novel: Jen's Most Amazing Novel, Even Better than Harry Potter, and when that super awesome agent looks inside (because they're obviously insane) they see it's a story about serial killers, not magic or even meant for young adults.

Needless to say you're rejected and back to square one.

Look on the bright side, maybe the title is the least of your worries.

Can you relate?

Go on, tell me how you get your perfect title, and what steps you take.

60 comments:

I collect titles. I have pages and pages of them in a three ring binder. Sometimes I look through them and an idea for a story will jump out at me. The title that seeded the idea may not be the title I use.

When I'm working on something new that doesn't have a title I make a list of possible titles as they come to me. But mostly I seem to get the title before I've writen anything. It's like alot of the time I get the first sentence and then everything else follows.

One must remember, though, that a majority of the time titles are changed by editors. So we mustn't get too attached to them.

LOL. Nice hypothetical situation you've created here. I can't really relate, though, because I like titles that are symbolic, so I guess I think about them more before I name anything. My first book, I stuck with the very first title I thought of,a nd I wouldn't change it for anything (unless I got offered a pub contract and they asked me to). I've changed this second one, due to Slushpile Slut's title blogfest, and now like it much better. Who knows, maybe I'm on the track to title traumas too!

I try to take my books' titles from the words that are in the books. I like titles that are only one word, too, so I try to ferret out a word that relates the book, is a few to several syllables, or might relate to a message the book carries.

I can definitely relate to that. Sometimes finding a title is easy; I've got before I've started writing the story. Other times it comes to me part way through. Other times I think the title is perfect and really it isn't!

Oh, this is too funny, yet not. I am in the beginning of wrting my book and I do feel just as you described.. the title alone will blow them away.. lol. Now, I have.. rejection? to look foward to? Well, at least I have been warned, right? That will soften the blow. :) I love reading about the experience from those who have btdt. My title is pretty basic, kinda cliche so I bet it will be shot down... we shall see!! I am thinking it's so basic it works... could be wrong. lol

I make a list of about 20-30 titles ranging from the super lame to the super catchy. Then I sent it to my betas and they help me choose--- because I can't make a choice on my own---ever.

The first billion drafts of my novel was No System At All--- now it's How to Pwn nOObz and Become a Rock Star.

I figure the title doesn't matter too much because if it gets published--- the publisher will change it anyway. Really your title should catch an agent's eye but you shouldn't get to emotional attached to it.

I actually come up with titles before books sometimes. I have been known to use song/album titles for book titles. Just take a look at my "WIPs" page, I think most of them are song titles. Thank god there's not copyright for titles!! :D

Speaking of song titles, the WV for me right now is the title to a BEP song, "Bepot." or is it "Bebot?" Huh...

I'm going to sound like a jerk too, but... I usually have the title before I start writing and I tend to think they are pretty strong or I won't go much further. For me the idea and the title pop into my head or develop first, then I sit down and try to write it and that is where my problems begin.

I asked for help on FB for my assassin story. Although I didn't end up using any of the titles suggested, it inspired me for my title - Hidden in Shadows. And if I write a sequel, one of my FB friend's title suggestion will be used - Assassination of Love.

My title usually comes from some line in the book. But that's after I've written it. During the writing process it changes a lot. Sometimes I'll change it only to go back to the title I had decided on before. Then I go back to the other one. Then back. It can go on and on.

Oh boy. Titles. I always have trouble with them, so much so that I will leave a work-in-progress untitled for months on end. I still don't have a title for it and it's halfway completed. I'm hoping the perfect title will simply smack me in the head one of these days...

Somehow my book title wasn't so difficult for me. But, coming up with a name for each chapter is just about killing me. I want something that will inspire people to keep reading, but not give too much away.

I'm seriously considering just numbered chapters.

But I kind of love chapter titles, especially if they're quirky! Scott Westerfeld once used song titles to name his chapters. I thought that was pretty cool!

hi miss jen! i got my titles at the same time i got my ideas. i did change two up a little after i got done reading what i wrote. i did a story called a fish story and its about shark finning so i changed it to shark fins: a fish story so it says more on whats inside my book. the forever forest im writing just came into my head with a story all at the same time. ...hugs from lenny

I often have a page full of possible titles, and have the hardest time narrowing down to one (and sometimes, none of them work, not at all). I've taken to collecting phrases and words that might work as titles -- and I find I'm trying to cook up stories to fit them. :)

I always spend way too much time trying to come up with titles, all the while knowing that it's a great possibility that in the event the book ever gets published it will probably change. But still, I just can't help myself. :)

I can definitely relate. I'm in the middle of anther rewrite and the story has not worked with the old title at all and I feel like I should have some sort of title. I just keep coming up blank. Hopefully, that totally, most super, awesome title will just walk in one day and wonder why I didn't figure it out way before that. :)

Oh Alex, NOT FAIR!!! Mine start out with great titles like "Dystopian" and "Forest Story" and "Untitled Sara Project"...and stay that way through a few drafts. I still haven't perfected the art of the title. :-( Always reading for tips! GREAT post idea!

It's funny, but coming up with titles is one of my favorite parts of the writing process (I know, I'm strange)! But I definitely know a lot of writers who get stuck on titles... which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because once a manuscript is sold, the pub will replace any sucky titles with brilliant ones. Yay for title clean-up crews!

Oh titles. I have the HARDEST time conjuring them. Sometimes, they come at me out of the blue and when they do, I never EVER have a book ready for them. The books in progress, however, all sit there, wondering if they're ever going to be named. It's a nasty trick played on me by the title gods.

I do like Less Sucky Second Draft personally. Maybe I'll tack that onto my WIP!

One story took ages. Lived with a working title (knowing it sucked) all the way through writing then had to sit down and dump a load of ideas onto a page. Tried mixing things up a bit until something stuck.

The title for the sequel came to me at the same time as the opening scene, and I still like it. Trouble is, now I'm having a hard time writing the sequel.

I suspect a bit of Heisenberg's Uncertainty here - you can either know the story or the title, but not both at the same time...